Leerink Swann Reiterates a Buy Rating on Ascendis Pharma

In a report released yesterday, Joseph Schwartz from Leerink Swann reiterated a Buy rating on Ascendis Pharma (NASDAQ: ASND), with a price target of $24. The company’s shares opened today at $20.70, close to its 52-week high of $21.79.

Schwartz said:

“We project that ASND’s cash position at YE16 will be ~ $180M and expect this will fund operations through completion of its TransCon Growth Hormone study in 2018.”

According to TipRanks.com, Schwartz is a 4-star analyst with an average return of 5.9% and a 48.1% success rate. Schwartz covers the Healthcare sector, focusing on stocks such as DBV Technologies S.A. – American, Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc, and Achillion Pharmaceuticals.

Ascendis Pharma has an analyst consensus of Moderate Buy, with a price target consensus of $27.50.

Based on Ascendis Pharma’s latest earnings report for the quarter ending June 30, the company posted quarterly revenue of $1.28 million and GAAP net loss of $15 million. In comparison, last year the company earned revenue of $2.35 million and had a GAAP net loss of $8.13 million.

Ascendis Pharma A/S is a holding company that engages in the development of drug candidates. Its proprietary TransCon platform is applicable for diabetes, pulmonary arterial hypertension, ophthalmology, and growth disorder treatments. The company was founded by Jan Møller Mikkelsen in December 2007 and is headquartered in Hellerup, Denmark.